Southern Swans Official Team Thread

[SouthSwans]

Southern Swans Official Team Thread

The Southern Swans

Home: Albert Park Lake Oval, Melbourne
Coach: Tom Flanagan
Captain: Darren Lehmann
Leadership Group: Jacques Kallis (VC), Kumar Sangakkara (VC), Shane Bond, Heath Streak.

 

[SouthSwans]

Re: FDL: Southern Swans Official Team Thread

[b]Full Squad:                  Types    Test Bat   Test Bwl    ODI Bat   ODI Bowl[/b]
--------------------------  -------   --------   --------   --------   --------
1. Jacques Kallis (RSA)     RHB/RFM     55.27      32.06      43.59      31.31 (Co-Vice Captain)
2. Shane Bond (NZL)         RHB/RF      13.80      22.10      15.66      19.60
3. Kumar Sangakkara (SL)+   LHB/WK      50.64      --.--      36.41      --.-- (Co-Vice Captain)
4. Shabbir Ahmed (PAK)      RHB/RFM      8.80      23.03       1.66      36.12
5. Thilan Samaraweera (SL)  RHB/OS      41.78      47.92      16.58      50.90
6. Stuart MacGill (AUS)     RHB/LS      10.20      27.20      --.--      --.--
7. Ian Bell (ENG)           RHB/RM      43.72      --.--      37.96      --.--
8. Darren Lehmann (AUS)*    LHB/SLA     44.95      --.--      38.96      27.78 (Captain)
9. Herschelle Gibbs (RSA)   RHB/RM      43.37      --.--      35.62      --.--
10. Paul Collingwood (ENG)  RHB/RM      42.94      --.--      32.05      37.26
11. Reon King (WI)          RHB/RFM      3.47      32.69       7.22      23.77
12. Hiren Varaiya (KEN)     RHB/SLA     --.--      --.--       9.00      17.78
13. Heath Streak (ZIM)      RHB/RFM     22.35      28.14      28.29      29.82
14. Murray Goodwin (ZIM)    RHB/LS      42.84      --.--      27.13      52.50
15. Lance Klusener (RSA)    LHB/RFM     32.86      37.91      41.10      29.95

* Captain
+ Wicketkeeper

 

[SouthSwans]

Re: FDL: Southern Swans Official Team Thread

Coach happy with team morale
John Citizen
3:58PM, February 14 2007.

Southern Swans coach Tom Flanagan is very happy with his side's pre-season at a press conference this morning, in the hours leading up to the first game of the season. After much talk about player payments, squad changes and leadership discussions, Flanagan said his team was very confident of a good start to the inaugural season after a good team bonding session on the Yarra River yesterday.

The Swans play their first game of the new competition at home against the Chicago Maroons, one of the two United States based teams in the newly formed World FD League. Flanagan knew of the excellent state - both playerwise and financialwise - of the US teams, but still remained confident that his team is the team to beat this year. "We know about them, they may have all the benifits of facilities and coaching staff ecetera, but our team has worked hard to get to know each other and play to our strengths. I think we will give everyone a good run for their money this year, in both the test and one day arenas."

The format of the league is much to the liking of the late Kerry Packer's World Series Cricket, whereby franchises buy players to play for them. Flanagan was happy to announce his team's major sponsor for the season, allying his team with the Sydney Swans AFL team through QBE Insurance. "We are very happy to have QBE on board; now whenever you think QBE, you think Swans, no matter which sport."

 

[SouthSwans]

Re: FDL: Southern Swans Official Team Thread

Unorganised Maroons cop spray from Swans, Vettori
John Citizen
11:03PM, February 14 2007.

The Southern Swans' coach and captain have lashed out at the management team of the Chicago Maroons, saying they should have been more prepared in the lead up to the season's commencement.

"You have to be on time, that's a given", Tom Flanagan said in an interview during the team's final training session before the match, "Most of their team only touched down here in Melbourne yesterday, and to have some of your players still floating around in transit lounges just isn't good enough."

The players Flanagan was referring to were Englishmen Michael Vaughan, Andrew Flintoff, Stephen Harmison and Matthew Hoggard and South African Mark Boucher. The senior members are currently on a flight that stopped at Luxembourg, Nairobi, Johannesburg and will be arriving in Perth in a couple of hours.

Poor scheduling by the Chicago coaching and management has resulted in the game being delayed and the players being exhausted upon arrival. Maroons spinner Daniel Vettori explained displeasure at his team's preparation. "I arrived here on Sunday and I was the only one here. I was expecting a training session but the coaching staff didn't even arrive until that night. I'm really not sure what's going on because at the moment we don't have a training base so we're scattered all over the place.

Darren Lehmann, captain of the Swans was visibly angered at the disorganisation of the Maroons. "The people of the world want to see good cricket. This sort of league is just the thing to bring back the sparks, world class players in all parts of the world; but for this to happen certain people need to pull their finger out." Sympathetic to the Maroons players, Lehmann was disgusted at the situation. "The fact that some of the lads still aren't here is just appaling. Mark (Boucher) has the luxury of a twelve hour flight, but the English boys have been in transit for nearly two days. It's disgraceful."

The Swans have prepared a batsman's paradise at the Lake Oval for the likes of Herchelle Gibbs, Jacques Kallis and Lance Klusener to have a run feast on. Fellow countryman Boucher however may be a tad tired to contribute to the scoring.

 

[SouthSwans]

Re: Southern Swans Official Team Thread

Last ball win for the Bloods
John Citizen
9:11PM, February 15 2007.

The Southern Swans have clinched a nailbiting last ball victory in their first game of the new competition against the Chicago Maroons. Great performances from allrounders Jacques Kallis, Paul Collingwood and Lance Klusener, as well as a top class bowling spell from pace spearhead Shane Bond ensured this game would go down as one of the classic wins, a fantastic spectacle in the first round of a new competition.

Chasing a target of 272, signs didn't look that good when both captain Darren Lehmann and vice captain Kumar Sangakkara fell within the first seven overs. But Kallis and fellow countryman Herchelle Gibbs steadied the ship before Gibbs holed out to Chris Gayle at mid-on. After Ian Bell departed two balls later, things again looked bleak for the Swans at 4/100, still needing 172 runs in under 30 overs, with just six wickets in hand. Collingwood came in and together he and Kallis set about rebuilding, but a constant flow of wickets would halt that process, with a visibly frustrated Chaminda Vass - who had been belted around in his earlier spell - finally getting one to slide past the edge of Kallis to Boucher. Kallis' 63-ball 62 had come at just the right time, but there was still a long way to go for the Swans.

Enter Lance Klusener.
He and Collingwood belted runs to all corners of the park off world class bowlers Daniel Vettori and Andrew Flintoff. Part-timer Yuvraj Singh also took a hammering with 23 coming off his two overs. The pair added 94 off 89 balls, Klusener the main culpritt, his strike rate well over 100. Everything seemed to be going to plan in front of a capacity home crowd of 22,000 at the Lake Oval; but Flintoff finally broke through removing fellow Englishman Collingwood for a gritty 65 off 80 balls. That left Klusener and Zimbabwean Heath Streak to see out the remaining 24 balls, 25 needed. Careful navigation by the pair ensured victory off the very last ball, Klusener square driving Flintoff through point for an amazing finish.

Earlier, Shane Bond and Kallis bowled brilliantly, but a very streaky - no pun intended - spell from Heath Streak leaked out 51 runs in five overs, put to the sword by Matthew Hayden, Ash Prince and Yuvraj Singh, giving the Maroons the earlier ascendancy. However, as shown above, that would be outdone in the best game of this competition to date.

 

[SouthSwans]

Re: FDL: Southern Swans Official Team Thread

This was one of my favourite games ever on here, I miss Youngy's enthusiasm. We need to bring back the FDL and the BCFCL and all that stuff. They were great.

 

[Ljp86]

Re: FDL: Southern Swans Official Team Thread

This was one of my favourite games ever on here, I miss Youngy's enthusiasm. We need to bring back the FDL and the BCFCL and all that stuff. They were great.

It's a future goal at this point. We don't have the poster base to run fantasy cricket competitions as there wouldn't be enough posters to fill teams.

However, if we have something similar to the "BigCricket Sloggers", the programme where we played in the English county cricket competition, I'm sure we'd have enough posters to take part. I think it was called ICC something?

 

[SouthSwans]

Re: FDL: Southern Swans Official Team Thread

Yeah Mikey (Lonie) used to run it on the International Cricket Captain 2002 engine. I dunno how to do that but if someone does it's a good idea.

 

[Ljp86]

Re: FDL: Southern Swans Official Team Thread

Yeah Mikey (Lonie) used to run it on the International Cricket Captain 2002 engine. I dunno how to do that but if someone does it's a good idea.

Anyone want to volunteer? Would be good to get it going again. Maybe you could ask him or perhaps coax him out of retirement.

 

[SouthSwans]

Re: FDL: Southern Swans Official Team Thread

I'll give him a buzz but he seems to be in a happy little rut running the BigFooty Medal.